St Pancras - Coldred - Medieval Churches on Waymarking.com

The site of St Pancras Church at Coldred is one of the oldest consecrated sites in Kent. In 597 AD, a Benedictine monk, Augustine, landed at nearby Ebbsfleet on a mission given to him by the Pope in Rome. He was to make Christians of the pagan Kent tribe led by King Ethelberht. One of his first acts was to have two churches dedicated to the the recently canonised Pancras. One, now a ruin in the grounds of his Abbey in Canterbury, the other here at Coldred.

The Coldred to Eythorne road cuts right through the middle of ancient earthworks, long accepted as the site of an Anglo Saxon ditch and bank fortification. The Church, along with the adjacent farm and cottage opposite, stand within the boundary of the fortification, much of the earth ramparts are still visible.  The small black barn opposite the church, belonging to Coldred Court Cottage, covers the site of an ancient well, thought to be over 300 ft deep, and said to have served the Saxon fort.

The church foundations are Roman, and during the rebuilding of the church after St Augustine's dedication in 600 AD, local flint and plastered over rubble were used for the outer walls. After the Norman Conquest in the 11th century, both the church and the farm adjacent were rebuilt by Bishop Odo using stone imported from Caen in France. The unusual bell turret dates from this time and was known as a Calais Bell Tower. Early Saxon craftsmanship can be seen in the quoins (cornerstones) and Norman craftsmanship in the small round headed windows in the chancel and nave, the arches of which were hollowed out of a single piece of stone.

The real treasure of this church is thought by many to be the old church bell, which had hung here for over 700 years. It broke in two on Maundy Thursday, April 6th 1939. Tall and narrow, it has no casting date or inscription, but it is known to have been cast pre 1200 AD as after this date bells were cast with a lip on the inner flange, allowing the bell to be tuned.